Highland Clansmen

[beno1440]

Hello all. I had an idea quite a while ago to build a Marauder horde army with as many axe wielding barbarian types as I could reasonably fit into one unit without going completely mad! Then they brought out 8th ed. WFB. The decision was kind of made for me really. So I ordered a pair of Chaos Battalion boxes, 4 horsemen boxes and a Nurgle Sorceror and set to work this week building the army. I'm collecting the last few units and characters today, ogres, tzeentch sorceror and a couple of lord/hero choices.

Not content just to sit back and simply assemble 40 marauders I've decided to theme the army as a Highland clan who have gone on the warpath :teeth:, complete with kilts, tartan and lots of furry pelts to keep their blood just short of boiling!

The clan elders will lead the charge from the front of the marauder unit whilst the hunting packs (horsemen and hounds) cause as much mayhem as they can. Once the clansmen have got stuck in the clan champions and overgrown brutes (converted chosen and ogres with great weapons) begin to smash their way into exposed flanks and anyone foolish enough to get in their way.

So that's the basic idea. I'll upload some photos later today of how the horde is looking so far.

 

[In Chigh P.I.]

Nice idea, look forward to seeing your progress. Which tartan(s) are you going for?

 

[TrystanGST]

You'll be really good at tartan (and probably pretty sick of it) before this is done.

 

[beno1440]

Photos and a lack of ogres

Well, I'll start off by posting up the first batch of pics for this army build.

First up are a pair of tester minis I grabbed from a mate. Added the sash to the left hand guy and painted it - not sure about the yellow streaks in it but kinda going for Tzeentch with this army so blue is most likely. The other one I was just messing around with painting up bronze and skin so only really worked on those bits. Shame they didn't come out in focus

I've been working my way through the clansmen and this is a little shot of some of them with the intended Festus in pre-conversion metal

Then the first three chosen men, not quite finished but coming along:

Not really an original conversion idea and I wasn't going to start them 'til all the core troops were done... but I had to take a break halfway through the 40 odd highlanders before I went a bit insane!

Finally, an overview of everything on my cutting matt at the moment, bar 10 warhounds who just couldn't squeeze on there!

Cool. If anyone's got any thoughts, ideas or criticisms then pipe up.

On a final note, went to collect the 8 ogre ironguts this afternoon from the GW store but they haven't been dispatched yet - :shock: - along with nearly all the lords I ordered they are out of stock... because everyone wants the metal minis before they get transferred to Finecast. That sucks

 

[Mr.S.Marbo]

I like the tartan effect on your test model, how long does it take?

 

[beno1440]

That tartan took about 20-25 mins or so but it was a test so I could have done it faster. I did it mid blue basecoat, followed by pale blue and dark blue woven together (over, under, over under!) then finished with the yellow stripes. If I used this scheme on all 40 it would take me... 2 working days to paint just the tartan! scary

I've come up with a new scheme which will be a bit clearer to read, and really fast to paint. That tester one is quite muddled when you stand back a bit anyway. New one is very similar but is light blue base, dark blue/green stripes followed by yellow threading. Have 'em done in no time now

 

[beno1440]

Tester photos and brutal weaponry

So, I've done some more work with the two tester models and, as previously mentioned, I've worked out a better scheme for the tartan.

and from the front

This scheme is a fair bit speedier to paint and I think looks a lot stronger as a design. I'll probab;y tone down the yellow to be a bit more neutral - more bleached bone in the mix basically. You may also notice that the two testers have variations of the same tartan, should add more variety to the unit?

I've also started painting up the woves and they're 4/4 done now. Final highlights on the fur and skin bits and then pick out the scales/spots and other details in a variety of shades from red-browns to green/grey-browns. This should help make each one seem more individual without breaking up the unity of the scheme

I'm still waiting for my ogres though :disapointed:

On a better note I've come up with a new idea to add unity with the rest of the army and distinction to the unit of chosen - marauder torso's with tartan of course !) and arm them with custom made claymores :mean: the ubiquitous highland weapon. Why didn't I think of that before you may ask... I dunno!

 

[TrystanGST]

Those wolves look great. The tartan is a nice touch too.

 

[supervike]

Looking very promising.

 

[MightyChad]

All I could think of when I saw the marauder with the warpaint was, "Freedom!!!" So job well done.

 

[beno1440]

Hahaha :tongue: Good ole' Mel, shame he's gone mental.

I did wonder how much the woad face paint would shout braveheart... maybe I'll mix them up a bit - blue, black, green maybe, we'll see.

Thanks for the positive comments though guys. There'll be more photos tomorrow (hopefully)

 

[MightyChad]

Hahaha :tongue: Good ole' Mel, shame he's gone mental....

I think he always was, just that he was better at keeping it behind closed doors.

As for whether they should all be woads/Picts, I would say yes. Keep it unified, maybe add some black here and there, but I would avoid green. Just my opinion, feel free to ignore me!

 

[beno1440]

Yep, I do agree. I was thinking of a similar green to the one in the tartan - but probably not a good plan!